A vertical spindle for the Taig lathe

Ah, what to post. I have been very busy, but as usual at this time of year I can't tell you about it. So let's look at the Dremel atachment for the Taig lathe. Nice and neutral, nobody's getting one of these for Christmas.

Milling on my Taig lathe is a comprehensive nuisance.  I do have the Taig vertical milling attachment.  But the cross-feed screw has a very limited travel. So I have been toying for a long time with adding a vertical milling spindle. A lot of things came together this afternoon. An article in Popular Mechanics, a reprint. A lot of watching videos on watchmaking, a fascinating subject. Need a magnifying glass!  All the reading I have done on ornamental lathes. Lots of stuff.

So a long time ago I bought an attachment for the Dremel. I don't own such a thing but I have a knock-off, made in Asia. Good for them. The attachment purported to let you sharpen chainsaws, a subject of great interest to me. Dull chainsaws are dangerous. Even sharp ones are risky, but less so. This attachment , as far as I am concerned, was a waste of money. It consisted of a bracket and a plastic gizmo that screws on to the nose of your DSO (Dremel-Shaped Object). You held the bracket so's it lined up with the bar, then used rotary grinders to sharpen the teeth. But hand-held. Waste of time. You cannot hand-hold these things worth spit. I have discoursed before on this subject. Get a proper jig, or buy a chain saw grinder. I did both. But the Dremel nose and the bracket I kept.

Today I thought, "hey, if attached this bracket to a piece of 1/4" (6mm) bar with some holes drilled into it, I could mount the whole thing on the Taig milling attachment! So after some work this afternoon, we are here.

Behold the Taig lathe with vertical milling attachment. Behold also the 6mm bar. It sticks up and fouls the DSO. But really the bracket is inadequate. The DSO won't fit.  A matter of about 3mm. So I will have to make some spacers. This will allow the DSO to screw into the plastic fitting at the bottom. This may turn into a major project. But if I can do it, then I have a vertical spindle for the Taig.  Maybe I could even cut gears, at least in Brass or  Aluminum or plastic.  Then I could make a clock. Of course I would need dividing  plates. Next topic, I suppose.